


Droplets of Time Passed

by Whatevergirl



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-01
Updated: 2013-03-01
Packaged: 2017-12-04 00:45:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatevergirl/pseuds/Whatevergirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vincent and Sephiroth become their past selves after an accident with raw mako. They form a close bond as they experience a very unusual time together. Written about 4 years ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A cold wind whistled past the cave entrance. Slow dripping could be heard from the naturally occurring mako fountain, the light making it glisten in a beautiful droplet as it fell through the semi darkness to the vicious mako that seemed to burn slowly through the cavern floor.

Emerald eyes glinted as they followed this motion. From the shadows, Sephiroth stepped forward. A sinister grin forming on his face. However, for the most part he remained motionless.

Cloud frowned. His sword seemed to weigh a ton more than normal, as he kept the former general firmly in his sight. Behind him, Tifa shifted. She tightened her gloves, ready to support when a confrontation began. In the deep shadows with her, a crimson-eyed gunman watched, his weapon loaded.

The four of them were alone. The location was not secure and it was often victim to earthquakes, and on rare occasions, volcanic eruptions. The ruined rocky caverns held witness to that. However, they were not there by accident. The mako fountain behind the general was the source of their purpose.

They had noticed an unusually high mako content in the region, while they had been near the small island in the submarine. With a large amount of help from Reeve, they realised that this was the site of a rare mako fountain. One found by administrative research a long time ago, but had never been investigated due to the unstable surroundings. It had been then Vincent spoke up. He could remember looking at the paper work for this a few months before he went on his fateful trip to Nibelhiem. He had deemed it unsafe for any of his Turks, and too skilled a job for most in SOLDIER, so it had been put to one side and forgotten about.

Bad luck seemed to haunt them that day, as Sephiroth had chosen to make the same trip that day. Though, he had merely been passing when Jenova sensed the pure mako.

All of which led to their current situation. As the sun set, Sephiroth was stood by the fountain. Vincent and Tifa remained in the shadows, prepared to cover cloud in his decisions. Cloud himself stood in front of Sephiroth, he did not want to fight for fear of the place crumbling. However, he did not want to just leave and allow the man unhindered access to a fountain of mako. Especially when he didn't know what particular power it would grant him.

Against his leg, he could feel his phone vibrating. They had been here a while, and the others were probably curious. Taking a deep breath, Cloud raised his sword and took a step forward. Sephiroth grinned widely and tightened his grip on Masamune. However, instead of going for cloud, the man moved to the shadows with great speed. With a whirl, he slashed down at Tifa, she ducked low, and Vincent blocked it with his claw. Sephiroth frowned, and turned his attention to him. Cloud helped Tifa up, who had turned on her ankle, and was now limping slightly.

Just as Cloud began to raise his weapon, a tremor shook the area. He quickly wrapped his arms around the young woman and pulled her close. Turning his head, he could see Vincent and Sephiroth fall. Thankfully, it did not last longer than 20 seconds, but it was enough to cause the whole area to begin to crumble away.

Slowly, he released Tifa and together, they made their way over to where the two men last were.

"Vincent?" Called out Tifa softly. "Are you all right?"

They carefully made their way past the mako fountain, which had spilt bits of its small contents. Nearby, they spotted 2 men. They were not the same as earlier. A young man with shoulder-length silver hair and an outfit very similar to Cloud's coughed and he clambered to his feet. Beside him, a younger looking man with very dark hair struggled to sit up. He wore a dark blue suit, and accepted the hand of the other, who helped him to his feet. They whispered to each other for a few moments, before turning to Tifa and Cloud.

"Hey, there." The young man with silver haired smiled slightly at them, though he looked most confused. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"

The man and woman gaped, momentarily speechless. Cloud then proceeded to take a few deep breathes, before giving his reply. He handed his phone to Tifa, quietly telling her to phone the others and say what had happened.

"There's just been a slight earthquake. Umm… but, if you come over here, we can get away on our airship." Internally, Cloud felt rather pleased, his voice had barely quivered at all, regardless of the fact that his felt completely numb all over.

" Sure… You're in SOLDIER, right? I'm a colonel in it. My name's Sephiroth."

" A colonel…" Whispered Cloud, and exhaled slowly. "Okay. Who's your friend?"

"Vincent." The deep voice of the other male filled Cloud with a strange feeling. He had a horrible hunch about what might have happened. He definitely didn't want to ask about Vincent's occupation. Instead he smiled, though it was rather shakily, and informed them of his own name, and Tifa's.

Slowly, the two made their way over to him. Closer up, Cloud noticed that the two were indeed, the same people that they had lost, just much younger looking. Vincent's hair only just reached his chin, and he had a tan. Something Cloud never really associated with Vincent.

Sephiroth's eyes lacked the amount of glow they previously possessed, though they were still brighter than any normal humans. They also lacked the dark secrets and heavy burdens they had been deepened by.

Overall, he mused, as the two made their way towards the opening where Tifa was waiting by a rope ladder, they seemed more human than he thought was possible.


	2. Chapter 2

A contented sigh drifted across the bridge. Cid was leaning against the wheel, the usual pilot stood nearby.

The airship was floating just above a rather unstable, very small island. A rope ladder hung from its deck, to a small outcrop where Cloud, Tifa and Vincent had disappeared some time ago.

As the sun sunk below the horizon, Cait Sith let out a cry. He was by the window, and could see the place shaking, bits of rock falling into the sea below. Cid straightened up as concern flooded into his mind. He handed the wheel back to the pilot as he quickly hurried over to look out, cursing under his breath.

Yuffie stormed in, airsickness momentarily forgotten while their friends were in danger. She pressed her face against the glass, trying to look for them.

It seemed like much longer than it was till they saw a small figure appear. He squinted out at it, and decided it was probably Tifa. A few moments later, his phone was ringing.

Unable to remove his gaze from the rocky island, Cid pressed 'accept' and placed the phone against his ear.

"Hey!"

There was a crackling noise, before he heard Tifa's voice on the other end.

"Hey, Cid? We haven't actually managed to get any samples of the mako, I'm afraid."

He smirked. "That's alright Teef. Just so long as you guys are fine."

"Umm… yeah. We're … alive… Umm, just so you know. There has been an accident. You see, we ran into Sephiroth and … don't interrupt … and he was attacking Vincent when there was a bit of an earthquake."

Cid couldn't help but feel nervous. He took a deep breath, looked at Yuffie, who was now staring curiously at him and then he turned around.

"An accident?" He replied, keeping his voice down.

"Yeah, well, to cut it short. Vincent and Sephiroth are now much younger than they were? Not like, babies or anything, but I'd guess about my age. I don't … really going on, but they seem all right, just very confused."

" You gonna bring them on board then?" He asked, still being quiet. "Just cos, I don't like the idea of you and Cloud staying down there."

" You don't mind if…." The static was getting worse, Cid pulled the phone away from his ear, and realised he was nearly out of battery. He went back to listening to Tifa.

"I don't think they'll … problem. But, can you keep everyone on bridge? Don't want…. Crowding them."

"Not a problem Teef, you get them up here."

He hung up and turned around. Yuffie was still staring, and Cait Sith was as well. He reassured them that everyone was alive, and sent the young woman from navigation to find Barret and Nanaki quickly.

Cid sat down in her vacated seat and took deep breaths. This seemed almost unreal.

______

"We're going up there?" Vincent was speaking softly to Sephiroth. It was evident from the look on his face that the last place he wanted to go was a large metal ship that flew through the air.

"Well, yeah. I never realised that they were this developed, but I'm sure it's perfectly safe." Sephiroth grinned at him. "Come on…"

Tifa and Cloud were all ready half way up the ladder. Vincent placed his foot on a rung, before turning back to the soldier.

"Perfectly safe?"

"Definitely."

Vincent slowly began to climb. Below, Sephiroth grinned and followed him. He couldn't believe his luck. Not only was he now missing a very boring meeting with the heads of the departments to decide if he should be demoted for taking unnecessary risks, he was getting to go in an airship. It was a shame Vincent didn't share his enthusiasm. He'd not met many young Turks. Actually, he'd not met any, just seen them, looking very smart, but tense. This young man actually seemed very pleasant. He did hope they wouldn't get split up.

When Tifa reached the top, she turned to Cloud. They had agreed it was best to take the 2 young men to Vincent's room. He shared it with Nanaki and Cait Sith, and they were both very rational. Hopefully, Sephiroth and Vincent would not be too uncomfortable with them.

Now at the top, the 2 stood with the arms folded, perfectly silent. The adorned very different expressions though. Vincent was clearly hiding his discomfort, though a frown still marred his face. Sephiroth couldn't keep a smile off his. Tifa grinned at him. His whole posture looked like a kid who had been picked to go somewhere, but was trying to appear calm.

Cloud began to explain who everyone was to them, as he led them down the stairs, to the dorms. He showed them where they would be staying, and explained that there was only one spare bed, but he would find blankets and pillows and other soft things for whoever got stuck on the floor.

With that all said, Tifa and Cloud turned and made their way towards the bridge. Behind them, Vincent and Sephiroth settled down.

______

Nanaki was curled up next to the door; he was waiting for Cloud, Vincent and Tifa to return. He was not as comfortable as he could be, there was a different scent on board, and he didn't quite recognise it.

He could hear Cloud and Tifa just outside the door, so he went to speak with them.

"Hello."

"Oh!" Tifa jumped. "I didn't notice you. Look, we have something to tell you…"

Nanaki felt cold as he listened to her. This seemed like a cruel trick of fate. However, they were lucky in a way that they were taken back to a part of their past where they would be willing to listen, and not fight everything. Which was evident by the fact that they had followed Tifa and Cloud quietly.

Promising to be nice, Nanaki went along to his room. He froze at what he saw. Sephiroth's clothing looked like Cloud's, minus the boots, which were in the corner and he didn't have any armour on.

Vincent simply wore blue trousers and a white shirt. Beside Sephiroth's boots, he could see Vincent's shoes, jacket, tie and a holster, with a gun in it.

The two were lay side by side on Vincent's bed, fast asleep. His worries left as he noticed the relaxed look on Sephiroth's face, who opened his eyes slightly, smiled at him, he carefully turned over.

Elsewhere, Nanaki could hear Barret shouting. He guessed they had told everyone now.


	3. Chapter 3

Vincent stirred, his head pounding. He instinctively curled against the warmth beside him. He could hear a door opening, and opened his eyes slightly.

Before him stood Tifa, and the nightmare of the previous day came flooding back. As he sat up, the colonel stirred. The brunette put a tray down and smiled at them both.

"Breakfast. And then later on, we'll talk about… stuff."

Sephiroth sat up and stretched. Vincent lay back down and buried his face in the pillow. The silver haired man grinned and lay down next to him.

"Hey? What do you think of this place?"

Vincent responded with a grumble, but Sephiroth didn't even bother trying to work out what he said. He lay on his back and excitedly spoke away to Vincent. After a few minutes he turned back to his new friend.

"Sorry, I have just been talking off your ears! But most people don't listen to me, so I don't bother talking to them. It's nice to tell someone stuff, and have them remember it later on… and I really do want to know what you think of this place."

Vincent turned his head to look at Sephiroth and he smiled softly.

" I hate it. I hate the idea of being in the air. Humans aren't made to fly. I won't take any form of air travel normally, and now I'm in a giant flying box."

Sephiroth smiled, he could kind of understand. The idea of falling from these heights was terrifying. The 2 young men got up, dressed and showered (separately) before they went up to the bridge.

Once there, a large man came over and in a controlled voice, introduced himself as Barret. Once Sephiroth introduced himself and Vincent, the man went over to the other side and look their way again.

Tifa came up with a young woman, who instantly introduced herself as Yuffie.

The girl was from Wutai, and was incredibly friendly. Sephiroth noticed she even managed to make Vincent relax slightly. By the time Cloud came up, Yuffie and Sephiroth were quite happily chatting and Vincent was determinedly staring at a wall.

"Sephiroth? Vincent? Can I speak with you?" Cloud fidgeted nervously. He didn't know how to tell them exactly what had happened. The 2 men came over, Yuffie trailed after them, but cloud sent her away again.

Once Yuffie had gone to sulk, he began to explain.

"Right… no easy way of telling you this, so I'll just say it. It's 1997, and there was an accident. It was in a mako cave but we can't return there because it won't support human weight. So… we haven't a clue how to get you guys back to normal."

Sephiroth stood there with his mouth wide open. 8 years? He'd missed 8 years?

It was unreal. He looked to his side, and noticed Vincent was a horrible colour.

He took a step forward, wrapped an arm around the man, as he was now swaying slightly on the spot and took him back to their room. Cloud let them go without saying anything.

______

Sephiroth sat Vincent down.

"You okay? Vincent?"

" 38 years…" he gasped, now shaking. "I'm 38 years in the future… this is… this is… I think I'm going to be sick…"

He helped the man to the bathroom, and they sat on the floor, Vincent curled up in Sephiroth's arms, tears falling down his face. Sephiroth was very quiet as well. He wanted to object loudly to being in the future as well, but it didn't feel as bad now he knew he wasn't as out of sync as Vincent.

" I'm not 19… I'm 57… no, I'm still 19… right?"

"Umm… I don't know. I'm going to stick with being 22. I don't look 30. You definitely don't look old either."

Sephiroth smiled at the young man next to him.

"I'm older than you really, then." Vincent gave the man a watery grin.

"No, physically, I'm older. So you have to listen to me." He gave Vincent's side a jab, making him yelp slightly. But Vincent chose to fight back, attacking the other's sides mercilessly.

2 hours later, when Nanaki and Cait Sith returned to their room, to see how their new friends were, they found them asleep on the floor. Vincent was flopped on top of Sephiroth, their limbs out at odd angles, as though they had collapsed. However, the both were smiling. Nanaki went to tell Cloud they were fine, as Cait got a blanket, and some pillows, to make the more comfortable.


	4. Chapter 4

Yuffie skidded to a halt, just outside of Nanaki and Vincent's room. Tifa had suggested taking them down to Icicle, and letting them, wander around freely for a while. And Cid had suggested somewhere quiet, that did not have a lot of technology, so they wouldn't feel too behind.

She was now here to tell them. She knocked on the door, and waited until someone invited her in.

Vincent was sat with a book in his lap, quietly reading. He didn't even look up at her. Sephiroth was in front of her, grinning. She found it rather hard to get over now nice he was. Cloud always spoke about him as though he was cold, and heartless. But the guy here was lovely. Okay, he didn't tell her everything she wanted him to, and she could tell after a while he found her a little annoying. But she didn't mind.

As she explained what they were going to do, she glanced over at Vincent again. He looked pretty normal, and very handsome. However, the idea that he was a Turk sent shudders down her spine. The whole being a Turk thing was probably the main reason he wasn't all too talkative. Turks weren't meant to sit at ramble on endlessly; at least, that's what she thought.

Yuffie couldn't help wondering about their normal lives; where they lived, what their families where like, even, what they did for fun! She'd never spoken to Sephiroth before, and Vincent always gave the impression that his social life may or may not have even existed! However, seeing them like this filled her with a new curiosity.

"So basically, we get to go out. Have free time, as it were." Summarised Vincent from the corner. Yuffie jumped, she hadn't realised he was listening.

"Yeah, that about sums it up. Tifa said we get a week off, to doing some training on our own, make peace with ourselves, you know… whatever we need to do before we go and kick Jenova's ass!" She grinned and floated happily out the door.

"Be sure to wrap up warm!!" she sang back at them.

______

The moment Vincent's feet touched solid earth, he smiled. This was far better. He turned to look at Sephiroth, and found his friend was sulking. Probably missing the airship.

He sighed shook his head to try and rid himself of the voices that were echoing around the back of his head again and began to look around. Last time he was here, there had been far fewer things. It had literally been a place to stop for those who were mountain climbing around here.

However, there were more important things to do now. That mainly counted as finding warm clothes for himself, as Turks only got thin jackets, and for Sephiroth, who was clearly wishing the SOLDIER uniform had sleeves.

"This way." He said, going northeast. He didn't know why for sure, but figured it was as good a choice as any. A few minutes later, he decided it was better than any other, as they had come straight into a shop. A clothes shop, to be precise. Cloud had given him some money, so he set about finding something warm.

After a while, he settled for a pair of black jeans, which were made pretty thick, a couple of warm shirts, as he refused to wear the same shirt everyday. These were black and dark blue; he had one white tee shirt as well. Vincent also found a good coat. This was a light blue, but it was fleece lined and it was a windbreaker type outside, so it wasn't really thick. The picked up a few other things and then looked for Sephiroth.

The silver haired man had grabbed pretty much the same stuff, he'd got a black coat instead though. And he had tee shirts, instead of shirts. And his were different colours.

The men changed in the store, and stepped back outside.

" I think I need a weapon as well. I haven't got my sword with me." Sephiroth grumbled, as he pulled on a pair of gloves.

Vincent simply nodded his head. He had his standard gun, but Cloud had lent him one or two spare guns they had in their room. He also kept a dagger in his jacket, though this had now gone inside the boots he'd just got.

The men headed off in silence to the weapons store, which they could make out through the falling snow.

"If this is what life in the future is like, I can't wait. I do hate having to o everything my boss tells me. He's a total idiot."

Vincent looked up and smiled at him. "My boss doesn't like me." He walked inside, as Sephiroth held the door for him. "She's always making me do the worst jobs. Sadly, that usually counts as playing bodyguard for Shin-Ra. She knows I can't stand him!"

Sephiroth opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted before he could even start.

"Who's she?" It was Yuffie. She smirked and explained she guessed they'd be coming here, due to poor Sephiroth being defenceless. She had also gone for a change of clothing, as shirts and a small shirt weren't ideal in this temperature.

"Tamara, my boss."

"Your boss is a woman? But I thought…"

"Anyone who is good enough to get into the Turks has a chance, regardless of gender. It's a shame though. I want to do some proper research. I've only ever gather stuff twice. And I've been in the Turks for about 3 years now!"

Yuffie and Sephiroth tried their best to give him a sympathetic look. Though, it wasn't totally believable. They gave up, and helped Sephiroth look for a weapon. He tried virtually every single one in the shop, before settling for a short sword.

Yuffie flung her arms over their shoulders as they left the shop. It was nice to have friends, even if one was a future ex general and murderer, and the other was a future ex Turk.

As they went to the fields outside the town, Yuffie couldn't help feeling a bit like Dorothy, travelling down the yellow brick road with 2 new friends, who were actually people she knew normally.

______

When they got back to the inn, Yuffie went and booked 2 rooms. As they went up to their rooms, the teenage girl made a phone call to Tifa, for advice. While out, Vincent had clearly reached his limit break, and was struggling to control his demons. She knew she was going to have to tell him about them, but really didn't know how to do it.

Sephiroth had also made some comments about how he constantly had someone screaming in his ear to do what she said. That probably needed explaining as well.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Teef … I need some help…"

______

Vincent was staring blankly at the wall. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Sephiroth knew he should say something. But the idea that the man had been experimented on, and given four demons to contend with was a shock to them both. Guilt was beginning to seep in as well; Yuffie had mentioned the one who probably did it was Professor Hojo, the man who was his father. However, she hadn't been able to explain too much. Apparently the future Vincent wasn't much of a talker either.

She had also had something to say to him too. Jenova… Sephiroth couldn't help wondering if this was something in the shots his father gave him all the time. The idea was quite scary. He always told himself the man loved him, and wouldn't do anything to jeopardise his health, but this didn't seem true anymore. He couldn't quite believe that the man would do something that would make him lose his mind.

He put his head in his hands and tried very hard not to cry. He was one of the most feared colonels in Shin-Ra. He wouldn't cry just because his father wasn't perfect. He just wouldn't.

He felt 2 strong arms warp around him. A chin rested on his shoulder, as Vincent pressed his face into Sephiroth's neck. The silver haired man raised his head then turned and pulled the teenager close to him. He did have to remember he was older. Even if it was only just. He was meant to be more mature. However, that thought quickly left as he looked down at Vincent's head.

As the guilt exploded, he felt half compelled to listen to the voice in his head. For a moment, he wanted to fight against everything that might ever cause them harm.

But when Vincent raised his crimson eyes to meet Sephiroth emerald ones, he realised he didn't want to move. Then, Vincent removed all ideas of harming people with one simple, and pretty unusual sentence.

"I'll ignore the voices in my head, as long as you ignore those which are in yours."


	5. Chapter 5

Vincent was still sat, staring at the floor, his arms firmly around Sephiroth. He knew the man was crying slightly. However, it did not surprise him. He would be devastated if his father turned out to be someone he didn't at all know.

Unfortunately, he was feeling rather awkward, trying to comfort him. He shifted in the man's arms, pulling his arms from around him, and then settling down against his chest.

"What's Shin-Ra like in your time?" Vincent desperately wanted to get back to some form of normality. He could feel Sephiroth taking deep breaths.

"Strict. I guess… I do like it though. I have got friends in there, like Zack. He's really weird, but he cheers me up. It can be hard to differentiate between my personal life and work sometimes, as I live in the dorms. Did you guys have dorms?"

"When I was in SOLDIER? Yes." Vincent frowned slightly. "They weren't very good though. I was the youngest one in them. My father made me joined when I was 12, and the next youngest was 14. It wasn't fun, plus the rules about what happened in the dorms were very lax. So, I didn't get much sleep. Still, at least I only got 3 other people in mine."

"4 in a dorm? That's cos you will have been a lower rank. I get my own."

"I got my own when the Turks selected me, when I got to 14. I had to go into training, so I was separated. Then when I was 16, I became a proper Turk."

Vincent grinned, he was feeling much better. Looking up, he could see Sephiroth had cheered up too.

" I wish I knew how my friends are… and I miss my dad. We usually go out for a meal, or play board games, or watch a film on a Monday. But here I am, with you instead."

Vincent smiled, sleepily.

"Mondays I spend by myself. Same as Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Thursdays I go out with my sister's, as they don't seem to think I can feed myself. Fridays, I go out drinking with my friends. And I do very little at weekends. And I see my father at work. We have lunch, if we're free at the same time and he doesn't forget."

Sephiroth laughed.

"My dad is very forgetful. He has lists of stuff he needs to remember everywhere!"

"Must be a scientist thing." Vincent grinned. He still couldn't quite believe the weedy little guy he found wandering around lost just a week ago became such an important guy, or that the same man was the father of a very confident Sephiroth. You never could guess the future.

"Your Dad is a scientist? That's weird. What work did he do?" Sephiroth laid his head against Vincent's. He was only slightly curious, but he really liked to hear Vincent's voice. Especially as he didn't really talk when there were other people around.

"Umm… I'm not too sure. Something to do with the lifestream. He said that a few weeks before my sister and me were born; he found a really interesting document in the older section of the Shin-Ra library and records. I can't quite remember who it was by, one of Shin-Ra's ancestors, and it's all about this idea that there is an energy stored up somewhere in the planet. And eventually it will escape, or something. I can't really think right now."

Sephiroth was now thinking. That idea sounded very much like what was going on now, with the proposition to extract the Planet's lifestream to power Midgar. He wanted to tell Vincent, but figured he shouldn't tell him more than he had to about the future, as they had no idea whether or not they would remember this when the mistake was corrected.

Sephiroth hoped he would. He didn't want to forget Vincent. Nor Yuffie and Tifa.

"Do you think we'll remember this?" He wanted to know.

However, Sephiroth's only reply was soft, even breathing. Vincent had fallen asleep. He carefully slipped out from under the man, and slowly moved him to get him under the blankets. Sephiroth went to clean his teeth and get ready to sleep.

As he wandered into the inn room's small bathroom, he smiled, realising that there was another 6 days left before they would be going to Northern Crater. They had to get some training in, so they were easily better than Cloud, Cid and Tifa. Not that he was competitive.


	6. Chapter 6

A cold wind raced across the frozen land. The 2 men carried on, still searching for something to fight. In the distance, there were tall mountains, covered in icy blankets.

Vincent stopped. He waited for Sephiroth to turn to him, before he spoke. His voice loud to be heard above the wind.

" We should head over to those caves, by the foot of that mountain. We won't find anything to spar with here!"

Sephiroth simply nodded his head, and they carried on.

Once in the shelter of the caves, Sephiroth felt considerably warmer, probably due to being out of the harsh wind. He rubbed his hands together and looked around. There was a lot of ice in here as well. He glanced over at his friend, and decided to choose a way to go.

Vincent began to follow, but paused to pull a dagger out his boot. He quickly carved something deep into the ice, before standing back and coming over.

"So we know where we are."

"Hmm… good idea." Sephiroth smiled, though it couldn't really be seen under his scarf. "Shame we aren't any good at attracting fiends straight off! Yuffie is strangely good at it, but I'm not willing to try. Don't much like the idea of having loads of them after us!"

Vincent smirked, but said nothing. He wandered on, content to have company he trusted.

A jumping ran into them. His numb fingers fumbled slightly as he grasped his gun. Sephiroth was already trying to get it with his short sword. However, this fiend was faster than they initially expected.

As the silver haired man blocked its escape, Vincent fired a shot, but only got its ear. This slowed it down considerably. As it quivered, Sephiroth brought his weapon down.

Sephiroth grinned and held his hand up to Vincent. The young man frowned and reluctantly clapped their hands together. He tucked his gun away and pulled out his dagger. He nicked another mark into the icy wall and they moved on.

They came across a good number more of jumpings, as well as a few ice golems. Vincent had gotten a horrible cut across one of his legs, as he covered Sephiroth, who was fighting away a golem. This was from a bandersnatch, which had snuck up behind them. However, it was not too deep, and he hadn't acquired too much of a limp.

Overall, the two were very happy with how well they had got on. They had increased their stats by a considerable amount, and worked very well together.

Eventually, they could see a way out of the caves. Across the plains, a house was visible.

Sephiroth smiled, he was getting hungry and hopefully they could convince the occupant to feed them.

He turned just in time to see Vincent slip. The young man had began to move, and slipped on the ice. He fell by down the small gap in the rock, to the snowy fields below.

Sephiroth froze, but only for a moment. He turned, and began to carefully make his way down.

His mind was filled with panic. He couldn't see exactly where Vincent had landed, but desperately hoped he wasn't on the jagged rocks that had risen in places out of the fluffy cover.

Vincent lifted himself up slightly. The cut he had on his leg felt far worse. He looked up, and could see Sephiroth making his way down the path. He took some deep breaths and waited for his friend.

"Are you all right? Vincent?!"

"You still have that materia? Yuffie said it was the green one, which had a green glow to it that was the cure one, right?"

"Umm… yeah. I think. Or was it yellow?"

Vincent frowned. He would be fine if his leg was healed up, but the idea of casting thunder on it wasn't exactly appealing. Or was it fire that was yellow, and poison that had a green glow.

Sephiroth had his arms around Vincent again, slowly helping him to his feet. He wrapped an arm around him, and they began to make their way towards the house. Vincent wasn't willing to have his leg tested on to find the right materia, just because Yuffie had not paused for breath when telling them the differences.

______

The old man sighed happily. He gazed at the two newborn chicks. One a beautiful green, the other was a striking black colour. The mother of the green one had died in the birth, but the other chick's mother had seemingly adopted the other as hers as well.

Chocobos were curious creatures. The large innocent eyes of these 2 babies had already captured his heart. Many times, people had called him a crazy old man for refusing to breed these animals nearer to cities. However, animals there were skittish, wary of humans; completely different to these animals, these trusted everything, as they had no reason to be cautious. Their parents had been trusting, for the same reasons, as had their parents. Chocobos that trusted their owners were far more loyal than those you found in other areas. These would not run away.

He sat down and gazed at them again. However, a knock came upon his door. After a moment, he tore his eyes away from these babies to go and see who was there.

In front of him, there were 2 young men. One leaning heavily on the other. He quickly let them in.

"Are you two okay?" he whispered softly?

The black haired one didn't answer. His face was a horrible colour.

"I'm Sephiroth, this is Vincent. I'm afraid we had a bit of an accident."

The man with beautiful silver hair responded. His face filled with concern. The old man pulled himself up, and went to the back of the stall of his only golden chocobo.

He pulled out a little bag, filled with materia.

"Materia… it's a wonderful thing. Shame it takes a while to get used to. The idea of mako fountains was little more than myth when I was little, yet here we are. My lovely Jenny protects mine for me."

He grinned and pulled out some cure materia.

"Jenny? Is that cure? It has a green glow…"

"My golden chocobo. And yes, it is. Hold your Vincent still for me?"

______

Two hours later, Vincent was nicely cured, and they had both been well fed. The old man seemed to enjoy some company, especially as they had been interested in his chocobos.

He had insisted they take one, so they could get back quicker. As they sun was now setting and Vincent was nearly asleep.

Which led them to their current position. Sephiroth had his arms around Vincent's waist, who was leaning against him and trying very hard not to fall asleep. They were upon a black chocobo, who was very young, but very strong. The old man had happily insisted they name it.

Sephiroth was very happy though. His only worry was what time the chocobo stable in Icicle shut.


	7. Chapter 7

"…So, then my Dad was like 'grr! How dare you!' and he threw them out! He then tried to get back to work, but I think having his 8 year old son jumping around telling him how cool he was didn't help."

Sephiroth paused his anecdote. He smirked, and stabbed a bit at his salad.

"I always thought he was cool, though he didn't much like it, I don't think. But now, I can't help thinking that a scientist isn't the coolest thing ever. At least, not the type he was. Maybe if he actually went places, you know, exploring! But he was happy to sit there with his books and stuff. No wonder I never got a step mum!"

Vincent was sat beside Sephiroth. They were in the inn's restaurant, having a late lunch. Though the 2 men had been fighting fiends most the morning (With Yuffie, who had now gone to hang out with Nanaki) Vincent's leg had begun to ache a little, so they decided to stop. They were stronger than nearly everyone else anyway.

Sephiroth was telling Vincent all about his past; about his life, his father, how weird his father had been recently, and anything else that came to mind.

Vincent leaned back over the chair, clicking his back loudly. It was a warm day, when out of the wind, and there were a quite a few people wandering about. He was perfectly happy to sit and listen to Sephiroth's soft voice, as he spoke about people Vincent occasionally recognised. The older man didn't necessarily give quite the details about people Vincent wanted, but he didn't say anything, as he didn't want Sephiroth get paranoid about telling him the future again.

"My father likes to explore."

"Huh?" Vincent had interrupted Sephiroth half way through another story.

"You said you wanted your Dad to do more exploring. That's what my father does. I only ever got to join him a few times, when I was little. He always has a Turk with him, even though he can defend himself. Still, Tamara won't let me go with him. But I think she just doesn't want me to go and be dead comfortable in case I relax and don't keep a proper look out."

"That's so cool!"

Vincent grinned, no one had ever called his father cool before.

" I guess you could see it as that. He met Elle when out on one of those trips, my step mum. My real mum died when Katie and me were 8. We have 2 younger sisters too. Then father married Elle, and I've got another younger sister, and she's pregnant again. I really want a brother this time…"

"That is cool! He was an exploring guy, like I wanted my Dad to be, and got a wife. I want my dad to find someone else! I don't know anything about my mum, he never talks about her."

Vincent smiled, and nodded. He pushed his plate away, and they stood up. Sephiroth was pressing a button for the lift, when he caught up, having stopped to thank the waiter.

Sephiroth checked his watch. It was now late, nearly 4 o clock. He wanted to have a sleep before doing anything. They'd gotten up early because the wind had been so loud that Vincent couldn't sleep through it, and refused to get up alone.

______

There was a buzzing noise. It was annoying and consistent. Sephiroth buried his face into his pillow and tried to ignore it. It stopped.

Just as he was dozing off again, it started. He realised it was the phone Yuffie had given them, and his hand scrambled around for it.

"Hello?" his voice was pretty groggy.

"Yo! It's Cid. We're going for a drink in about an hour. The Frozen Blades, that pub not too far from the ski slopes. You gonna be there?"

"Wha-? Oh, sure."

"Bring Vincent too. Sure he likes to drink."

Then Cid hung up. Sephiroth dropped his face back into his pillow, still not too willing to get up. Slowly, he hauled himself out. He grabbed a towel and some clean clothes, and went for a shower.

______

Vincent sat and stared blankly at the table. He was still tired, having been up most the night. Beside him, Sephiroth was in a drinking competition with Barret and Cid. Cloud wasn't joining in, as he apparently couldn't keep much alcohol down. (Yuffie had happily told him so.)

Sephiroth had recently been taking up all his thoughts. Just having the man close made him breathe faster. He knew this was weird, but he knew why it was happening. He knew that he was supposed to be unaware of the idea of men loving each other, or even taking an interest. But he had seen it in many different places, though they were usually in the lower places that he had to visit to get information. He couldn't deny he was attracted to men, and in particular Sephiroth. But his father would kill him, as would his sisters. He didn't want to be so attracted to someone who he couldn't be with. It wasn't nice. When Cloud and the others figured out how to send them back, he'd not see Sephiroth anymore. Or if he would, he'd be old. Too old. 27 years too old.

He drank deeply, as he desperately wished he knew what to do.

Over an hour later, it was becoming obvious that they'd have to head back soon. Sephiroth had only lost to Barret. Cid was now sleeping off the alcohol he'd drank, and Sephiroth would need to do the same.

The main problem with this idea was it was a good 5-minute walk back to the inn, and Vincent was pretty drunk as well.

They wandered out, and made their way down the icy street. Sephiroth wasn't too bad, having already been sick in the toilets. But Vincent was hungry. He vaguely wondered if there was food anywhere; then remembered he had some in his bag, in their room.

When they got back, Sephiroth smiled. He'd sobered up quite a bit, as the walk had taken longer than 5 minutes, and the cold air had really helped.

"Thanks for the help."

Vincent smiled at him and nodded his head. Sephiroth pulled him close.

"I don't know what I'd do without you…"

And he kissed Vincent, who froze up, then melted against him.

Sephiroth slipped his cold hands over Vincent's back. The silver haired man was more than slightly happy to be doing so. He moved one hand to the front, and began to unfasten the buttons on the younger man's shirt.

Vincent had his hands under Sephiroth white tee shirt. He kissed the man as hard as he could, enjoying the taste of his mouth. Underneath his fingers, he could feel the firm muscles. He jumped slightly, when his shirt came off completely, and Sephiroth moved his kisses to his neck.

Vincent moaned gently, and wrapped his arms around the other. His legs beginning to give way. The silver haired man noticed this problem, and carried him over to his bed.


	8. Chapter 8

Vincent yawned, and stretched. He then snuggled back up in the blankets. If there was one thing he liked, it was not having to get up for work at ridiculous hours in the morning. He knew he would have to get up at some point to feed Sweep, their beautiful black chocobo. However, the idea of another 5 minutes was almost too tempting.

Vincent lay there, listening to Sephiroth wandering around in the bathroom. Then realised, if he got up and showered now, there would be no hot water: a perfect reason to have another little sleep.

______

The 19 year old stirred. He could hear the snow pelting the windows, and the wind was howling through the trees. The curtains were open, though the dull day didn't let too much light fill the room. By the window, a newspaper spread out over his knees, sat Sephiroth.

Vincent moved, shuffling to the edge of his bed. He noticed a clean, folded towel over the end of it, and grinned. He stood up, and wrapped it around his body. It was time for a shower. Thankfully, Sephiroth had tidied their clothes up, and his were now in a pile beside his bed.

Vincent grabbed his wash bag and went to the little room to sort himself out.

______

Sephiroth smiled. He was interpreting the news, when Vincent had gone for a shower. The man was just too cute, though he knew people high up in the ranks didn't like to be phrased as such. However, he had been sat there, his hair flicking out at odd angles with an adorable expression on his face.

Sephiroth resisted his urge to hug him endlessly. He wasn't too sure how to act. Though he knew that getting other breakfast, as he'd slept straight though it was probably a good thing. The headache tablets and hot tea to help the hangover were a nice thought too. Though it was a shame Sephiroth had just finished all the coffee, Vincent might not like it, but the colonel sure did.

He'd bought some greens for Vincent, who was very fond of their chocobo. He leaned back in the musty old chair and sighed. He really hoped Vincent wouldn't be too upset with him.

______

When Vincent came out, he saw a rather large pile of toast on the table, along with a pot of tea and come chocobo greens. But Sephiroth was absent. The man had scribbled a note, saying Tifa had called. Once he'd finished eating and feeding Sweep, he was to come to the pub. They were meeting up to get some training done.

Taking a deep breath, Vincent sat down and poured some tea. He shoved toast down his throat and gulped the tablets. When he could eat no more, he dressed very warmly, grabbed his weapons and left.

Sweep was bouncing around the stable. He was very sweet, with large eyes and soft feathers. He pushed his beak into Vincent's shoulder when he came over. The young man laughed happily, and pulled out the first green. He fed little bits at a time to it, as the old man had instructed. He then found a couple of nuts in his pocket, and fed Sweep them. He played with him, rubbing the bird's fluffy feathers and pretending to wriggle when Sweep picked him up with his beak.

After a while, Vincent remembered about the note, and rubbed his bird's nose. He said goodbye to it, and ran off.

Through the thickly falling snow, he could see Tifa and Sephiroth waiting for him. He hurried over.

"There you are!" Laughed Tifa, "I was beginning to think something had eaten you!"

He grinned and apologised. She quickly explained that Cloud and the others were already at the plains. They were in groups. Nanaki, Cloud and Cid formed the main melee group. There would fight in front, but depend heavily on the back group for healing and support. This was made up of Yuffie, Barret and Cait Sith. They would stand considerably further away, and use magic and potions. Of course, they had weapons for if there was no support needed. Tifa, Vincent and Sephiroth were more of a sneak group. While the others held a fiend's (mainly planned for Jenova's) attention, this group would find a weak point and hit it. This would be found with scanning materia, pot shots from Vincent, slashes from Sephiroth and hits from Tifa. With different materia attached, they could check for its weaknesses, both elementally and physically.

Overall, it was a good plan. However, this group work would need a lot of time and effort to get it right. Which was why they were in a field, with lots of enemy lure materia attached.

______

That evening, Vincent and Sephiroth collapsed in their room. That had been exhausting. Sephiroth couldn't help feeling sorry for the 2 stuck in Yuffie's group, as much as he liked her, that girl could shout.

He looked over at Vincent, who lay beside him, and took the man's hand. Vincent grinned and rolled over, so he was pressed against the colonel's chest. Sephiroth shifted so he was completely on his bed, and then pulled Vincent up next to him.

Sephiroth kissed the man's lips, and settled down to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

He could see his breath in front of him. Around him, the wind was howling. To the side of him, Tifa crouched down to avoid a swipe from another ice golem. They had been near the caves again, and Yuffie had fallen over, making a loud noise as she fell. Unfortunately, this had awoken a rather large number of sleeping fiends.

Sephiroth stood strongly, covering Vincent, who couldn't really shoot in such a small area. He couldn't carefully aim with everything jumping around him, and really didn't want to risk shooting one of his 3 friends. Therefore, he was mostly just taking blows, and shooting things right against him.

Vincent stumbled back and leaned heavily against the wall, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. His blood was pounding in his ears. He had a distinctly separated feeling. Vincent blinked hard, trying to make his eyes work properly, but somewhere, he could hear a growling laugh. He was feeling distant, as though he wasn't quite there.

Then his body burst into pain. He hadn't expected it, and dropped to his knees in shock. The teenager's body shook as he fought back tears. He thought he could hear people talking in the background, along with the sound of blows being struck. This however, was not his main concern. That was for the feeling of his skin burning he was currently experiencing.

With his eyes shut, he felt himself retreating. It was strange; he could almost see a figure coming forward. A dark, tall and commanding figure, but an oddly terrifying one. He was powerless to stop anything as he felt it move in front of him. As he watched himself strike out viciously at the golems in front of them, fear flooded his veins. Then he was rising, the wish to be away from his friends taking over any other feelings. Somewhere in his head, he knew this was Chaos, the demonic fiend which he was received in Nibelhiem. Unfortunately, his knowledge about it was limited. Avalanche had only told him that it was a part of him that was released when his limit level reached full. However, it didn't attack them and relinquished it's possession of his body after danger passed so Cloud believed that he had some level of control over it.

Right now though, Vincent wanted to be elsewhere. A place he could be, that looked familiar. Somewhere that hadn't changed too noticeably. He missed his home, his friends, and his family. The idea that he could go anywhere he liked, but couldn't get there was quite upsetting. A thought struck and he made his choice. Desperately trying to relay it to the thing that was moving his body.

______

Tifa sighed and pulled out her phone. Vincent had flown away, and on foot they really couldn't follow. She looked to the side, and noticed Sephiroth had barely moved. As she spoke to Cid, quietly explaining what had happened, she placed a hand on his arm.

Sephiroth turned to look at the young woman. He had seen many things, throughout his life. However, he had never experienced anything like that. It had been a strange feeling. Not fear, he hadn't been afraid. It certainty hadn't been amusing either. He was torn between laughing and simply trembling though. He was worried though. In those eyes, confusion had shone. Maybe even a little bit of fear. However, Vincent had been in pain. If it hadn't been for Yuffie holding him back, he would have taken the shaking man into his arms.

______

Sephiroth stood on the deck, staring out the window. Behind him, he could hear the workers talking; Tifa was talking to Cid, they were trying to decide where Vincent / Chaos will have gone.

There was an echoing in the back of his mind, someone whispering, calling. It knew where to find Vincent. If only he could hear it properly. Sephiroth was vaguely aware he should try. He had spent a long time blocking it out, determinedly ignoring it; he should stick to what he had been doing. However, his worry for Vincent was stronger than his interest in doing what he had been told to do, by strangers he'd met about a week ago. He pressed his forehead against the cool glass, and shut his eyes. Many ideas flew through his head, but as he focused more, he kept getting visions of Wutai, though not through his own eyes. The woman's voice informed him, quite coldly that he could see through he eyes of any of her subjects. He simply had to accept her. A feeling of power filled him, and he told Yuffie, who had come over to check he was all right, that he believed Vincent was in Wutai.

Though he really wanted to carry on looking, to discover just what he could see by using her, this Jenova, he resisted. Guilt began to seep into his mind as he remembered his promise to his young Turk. Letting out a long sigh, the silver-haired colonel turned away from the glass and stared at the metal floor. He wished he knew how Vincent was. The transformation had looked awful, and the idea that he had no control over his body was scary.

He glanced off to the side. As he watched the rapidly moving scenery, he couldn't quite deny the fear and curiosity he held over what happened to his body when he looked through other peoples'.

______

Sephiroth was the first off the airship. He was closely followed by Cid and Tifa. Yuffie had claimed she might not leave she went back now, so had remained with the crew. Sephiroth had wondered what she meant, but decided to ask later. Finding Vincent was his main interest. They had landed near the city's outskirts. Around them, there were a large number of fiend carcasses. Some had other fiends feeding off them. The young man pulled a slight face a he watched. Tifa pulled him along and together they entered the capital. It was odd, just walking in. He wanted to grip his shirt sword and hold it in front of him. There was no one objecting to their presence. It was most peaceful. The exact opposite of what Sephiroth had expected. He had been told it was a place of manipulators; where no one other than the leaders had free will. He had been told that everyone, regardless of age and gender would fight strangers. He realised that it had been propaganda. Maybe there were strict on rules, but it was clear these people were not being controlled. There were too happy. He looked around. The sun was setting and it cast a fiery orange glow to everything. On top of a high building, Sephiroth saw a dark figure. He tugged at Tifa, and pointed it out.

She shouted Cid, and they hade their way over. Chaos stared down at the people, watching the mill about. The man could feel its curiosity. He couldn't help but wonder if Vincent had been told the same lies, or exaggerated truths as he. Or, if simply Vincent was observing the differences between times.

Tifa called up, and the demon looked at them. It flew down, and shut its eyes. A moment later, and it was changing, shrinking. Another moment, and Vincent was in front of them. He looked exhausted, upset but somewhat relieved.

______

On the airship, in their separate room, Sephiroth secured his arms around Vincent.

The colonel lay down on the bed, his mind completely blank. Vincent leaned over, and softly kissed him, before settling down as well. Sephiroth fell asleep in minutes, but the young man beside him lay awake. He was very hungry, and refused to sleep till they had got back to the inn. He shuffled around, so he had his face pressed into the man's neck.

He had mixed feelings about tomorrow. It was the last free day they had. Then they would go and fight this terrible calamity, or whatever. The real concern was after that. Avalanche would begin to look for a way to send him back. As much as he wanted to stay with this man, he missed his life. Here he did not have to be a Turk, but realistically, there was not a lot else he could do, especially here, out of his time. He had no proof of who he was, as his real identity didn't fit him, a 57-year-old man. He very much liked spending time here, but was reluctant to call his feelings for Sephiroth 'love' as he had only known the man a week, and he didn't believe in love at first sight.

He sighed. There was a lot to think about, but he figured that was going to happen would happen, regardless of them interfering for one way or the other.


	10. Chapter 10

The room was filled with gentle breathing. Two green eyes sparked as they gazed at pale face of the young man.

The 22-year-old colonel sighed softly. His mind was filled with the activities they would be doing later on. Starting with feeding their chocobo, and giving enough feed to handler to look after him till they got back. They would also be training some more.

He pressed a kiss to Vincent's cheek before getting up and showering. There was a strong voice in his mind now. She was pressing herself against his mental barriers; wearing them down. He realised now, that using her power the day before had been a mistake. Although it allowed them to locate Vincent quicker, she had now got a foot in, as it were. This Jenova was now aware of his strengths, his weaknesses. All morning, he'd listened to her trying to explain why he should help her.

However, his conscience was louder. He did want to be with Vincent. He did want to run away, to leave Cloud, and Tifa, and Yuffie. He wanted to remain with Vincent. But he knew he couldn't. He missed his friends, his family. The young colonel was fairly certain Vincent missed his too. And then there were the people they were meant to be now. Those with all the experiences that had occurred during the 8-year gap. It felt unfair for them to be here, out of sync with time. Where were the other versions of them? Were they merely in the back of their minds? Were they in the past, reliving old times? Or did they simply cease to exist? This alien woman promised him answers.

Sephiroth wrapped a towel around his waist and began to dry his hair. He was also curious as to how well he could trust their companions. Yuffie had not explained things very well, and everyone was very uncomfortable around them. True, he was apparently going to become a murderer, who was bent on world destruction. However, he didn't want to believe it. It was possible something else was going on.

The young man pulled on clean clothes, before coming to a decision. He'd have a look, but only a brief one. He'd just clear these doubts he was having and get out.

He lay down on the other bed, away from Vincent, who hadn't moved. Sephiroth shut his eyes and focussed on Jenova, commanding her to answer his questions. He felt the shock from her, at the force of his demand.

He sighed and opened his eyes. Maybe there was an easier way of doing this. Sephiroth then frowned… At least, he mentally frowned. His features didn't follow suit. Instead, he was getting up, not from a bed but a chair. Zack was beside him, and they were chatting away.

Apparently, he'd gotten his wish. He wasn't sure where he was though.

"Sorry, Cloud. I've no idea where the general is."

"But the President wants to speak with him… The lieutenant colonel keeps asking everyone. He's getting kind of annoyed."

"And we wouldn't want him pissed. Come on, let's ask some of the civilians."

Sephiroth mentally frowned again. This was Cloud? The logical explanation would be he was in a different time period… if there was a logical explanation for all this. Zack looked older though, but only slightly. It was probably about 5 years ahead. He felt himself asking about his own whereabouts. A teenage Tifa was talking to them now, about Shinra mansion. He realised they must be in the little town of Nibelhiem.

In the basement, he watched himself rambling on about his mother, monsters, and a lot of nonsense. He was desperately curious now. Jenova then pulled him back, and claimed that she was his mother. This clearly didn't have the impact she wanted, as he had to stop himself laughing. He often wondered who his mother was, and if he had reached a rather hysterical point over it, as once in the past he had (Rather embarrassingly) he may have believed her. However, he knew that she was who they were going to fight tomorrow. He realised that he did trust AVALANCHE, at least to a certain extent. He believed they were honest about Jenova, and then he grinned. Jenova had actually given him some answers. Though they were not the ones she wanted him to have, and he felt very relieved.

______

Vincent let out a shaky breath. Sephiroth was acting very strange. In fact, he was acting incredibly strange. The man was holding his short sword in his hands, and trying to stab him. Vincent's hands were curled around his wrists. The man had an oddly blank look in his eyes though.

The dark haired man took a deep breath; the last dregs of sleep were drying up. Vincent quickly swiped his legs, and got the man on his stomach. The sword clattered to the ground as Vincent got Sephiroth in a tight lock.

This was definitely not the way to wake up on a morning. But he was awake now, and there was no way someone who was merely in the army could beat him. Not in hand to hand.

For a while, he kept the man tight. But after a while, he heard him whimpering. Vincent couldn't resist looking at his face. He flipped the colonel over, carefully placing his legs, so the other couldn't use his own as leverage.

Sephiroth was pulling a face, as though he were in great pain. Vincent called out to him, as a sinking feeling filled him. This must have been from Jenova. He wasn't too sure what it was she could do, but she obviously had a certain power over Sephiroth.

Fortunately, the colonel was responding to his name. He looked around and frowned, before spurting out apologies. Though, these were quickly followed by questions. Vincent softly explained what had happened, and Sephiroth looked horribly guilty and gave a very sincere apology.

Sephiroth leaned down, and placed a kiss on the other's lips. Vincent sighed in relief, and wrapped his arms around the colonel's neck. He whispered into his ear, that worrying over things out of their control was pointless, then and proceeded to kiss him firmly.

Sephiroth smirked. He slipped his hands down the man's back.

It wouldn't matter if they were late for training. They were, after all, the highest in their fields, and there were more pressing matters that had Sephiroth's attention.


	11. Chapter 11

It had taken them over 2 days to get through the 'crater', which was actually a cave. The journey had not been a pleasant one. The path itself did not truly exist, and the fiends had adapted to the unstable surface.

'Or perhaps' Vincent though moodily 'All the others have died. It is a little odd the vast majority of what we have come across can either fly, or burrow.'

He sighed. He missed the sun. He missed the grass, and the sky. Most of all, though, Vincent Valentine missed the fresh air. This musty, fetid smell was getting to him. It strongly reminded him of Shin' Ra's Mansion, in Nibelhiem.

He shuddered slightly. Nibelhiem had not been his favourite place to go. His boss, Tamara had sent him there last year. She had probably done so because he had just finished a very violent mission, and figured playing bodyguard would be easy. It probably would have been if the man hadn't brought his 11-year-old brat of a child along.

Jack Shin-Ra… Vincent didn't know anyone who got on his nerves more than that spoilt heir. He pitied the people in the future who would have to deal with him. As a turk, he'd probably be dead before Jack got to power.

Pressing two fingers to his forehead, he realised that Jack Shin-Ra was dead in this… reality. He couldn't wait for some form of normality to return. His head was starting to hurt. Jack's son, Rufus was now in control. He'd heard that the turks had more to do with his up bringing, so hopefully he was more bearable.

Vincent shifted slightly, he was on night watch. They were resting before going to fight Jenova. He was up with Yuffie who was drawing in the mud. His life seemed to go from one nightmare to another. But Vincent seriously hoped this was not one. There were certain bits that made it more than bearable.

His mind drifted back to when they started this whole thing; in that small cave, then straight onto that horrific flying machine. It seemed a lifetime ago, not just nearly a fortnight.

Though, coming on this particular journey, he and Sephiroth had been given a choice. Cid had come up to see them the morning they were leaving, told them where and when, and then left. About half an hour later, Tifa had knocked on their door. She'd told them that this wasn't really their fight, so they didn't have to come if they didn't feel like it. Vincent and Sephiroth could be picked up at a later time, if they decided not to fight.

However, Vincent knew that Sephiroth would want to be there. It was his fight, really. Jenova was always there, tugging at his doubts and amplifying his fears. To sit out when she so frequently invaded his thoughts would go against his training as a soldier. Anything that bothered Sephiroth bothered Vincent, so he refused to sit out as well.

Therefore, they had met Cid, and AVALANCHE, entered the cave and stuck with the group, albeit at the back. Yuffie and Tifa had joined them after a few hours. Together, they fought fiends, though there were many. The four remained together when they reached a split in the road.

There was a strange noise behind him, and Vincent twisted around, but it was a tiny bug fiend trying to eat another little bug. He shifted back to his comfortable position. Staring blankly at the cavern walls. He could remember Yuffie calling it creepy, how their shadows distorted to become almost impossible to recognise. Tifa thought it was fascinating, the idea that these caverns could go on for miles and miles and miles. That it was a whole other world under the surface. Vincent found it beautiful. The cave ceiling had moisture on it, ground water from the rain above. A section of the water cycle that one did not often see. Though, he agreed strongly with Sephiroth. It was odd that it was so cold down here. The geothermal energy should have seriously heated it, considering how far down they were.

He'd remembered Barret had come from a mining town, and so had enquired as to the heat in their mines; Hotter than in here, apparently. Yet, here they were further down. It was unnerving. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up. Tifa gave him a soft smile and indicated for him to lie down. He moved, lay his head down on his bag and dozed off almost immediately.

The next day, as they were preparing to fight, checking their materia and armour, they could hear a mass of fiends stirring.

"Jenova is waking many fiends that have slept for almost 2 millennia." A warm breath touched his ear. "Apparently they were forced in here by the Cetra and sealed away."

Vincent turned to face him. "Really? They must be angry." He stepped closer to the other man. "Why, though?"

Sephiroth pulled Vincent into his arms, sparing a brief glance at the rest of the group. No one was paying much attention to them. He rested his head on the other's and shut his eyes. Jenova was screaming in his head.

"They were unlucky, really. Jenova's body was here, so they sealed it away. These fiends merely got caught in the wrong place and the wrong time."

"Jenova? But I thought Cloud said that scientist found her body near that Cetran Capital?"

"Umm, bits of her... really. It wasn't so much Jenova, as essence of Jenova. If that makes any sense. Her solid, physical body was sealed, but her being entered organisms in the mud around her, and they merged. As she absorbs more stuff, she grows. I can see what happened… sort of… but I don't really know how to explain it."

Sephiroth grimaced. It was a little bit weird. But Vincent didn't say anything, simply pressed his face into his neck. He could see the others were mostly ready now, so he pulled back, pressed a chaste kiss to the young man's lips and grasped his hand. They walked over to the others.

It was decided that Cloud, Nanaki and Cid would go first. Vincent, Barret and Yuffie would give them as best cover as they could. Then Tifa, Vincent and Sephiroth would follow. When they near the bottom, Cait Sith, Barret and Yuffie would get moving.

Cloud then chose to give a less than inspiring speech, which Cid quickly corrected. The first group quickly left. Vincent, Barret and Yuffie were already killing fiends. This was not difficult. The ground was not even remotely smooth. One hit and they fell of the edge. Some fell off when the fiend beside them got shot. Vincent was breathtaking. His body firm, his arms raised, the 19-year-old was truly beautiful. His eyes were totally focussed on the scene in front of them.

Sephiroth twitched. He really wanted to hold him. He could nearly feel the image burning in his mind. Then the young man lowered his weapon, and turned to Sephiroth. A ghost of a smile flitted over his lips when he saw the silver haired man's face.

Tifa stepped forward. Vincent and Sephiroth followed. The fiends that rushed to great them were quickly shot down. Occasionally, Vincent would raise his gun and take a few shots. Soon, Vincent had his gun out constantly. The others had clearly set off. At the bottom, he could see the others fighting an iron giant. Vincent had received a scrape from a small fiend. He'd been shooting as it had jumped down onto him. Thankfully, he was mostly all right. At the bottom, they all gathered. Yuffie had a few scratches; she'd fallen over dodging a fiend that had jumped at her from behind. Nanaki also had been mildly hurt. Over all though, they were fine.

Sephiroth grinned. Vincent's plan to shoot away the majority of the fiends at the top had been a moment of genius. His heart swelled slightly, and he slipped his hand around Vincent's, who smiled softly at him.

"I can feel Chaos tugging." He whispered. "But I don't think my limit is high enough yet. Are you all right? She is still hurting, isn't she?"

Sephiroth felt his heart swell; his love for this young man filled him. It momentarily managed to silence Jenova.

"I'll manage." He whispered.

And then they began to move. They jumped onto a very large rock, and watched as the alien witch rose. Tifa, Sephiroth and Vincent quickly moved slightly further back. Their earlier training seriously helped. Tifa stood behind Vincent as he shot, Sephiroth ran forward and attacked. The woman cast magic on the others, healing and aided where she could. Then Sephiroth returned and she ran forward, their roles reversed.

Cloud, Cid and Nanaki had already got a tentacle off. Barret, Cait and Yuffie were working on one as well.

Then, there was a problem. With the tentacle that Barret's small group were attacking, Jenova swiped in front of her. Cloud and his group were out of range, as were Cait, Barret and Yuffie. Tifa was next to Jenova. She flew a short distance, her ribs cracking loudly as she got hit. However, Vincent and Sephiroth got the brunt of it. The middle of her tentacle threw them across the cave, and they both disappeared down, off the edge.

______

Yuffie watched her friends fall. Then, they too were falling. Or rather, floating. Nanaki had finished off, with Tifa, Jenova. She looked around. Nothing was happening.

Then, she saw a white light. Aerith. Holy. Her mind filled with many thoughts, amongst them, she felt her deep concern for the 2 friends alleviate. They would be fine. A turk, and one of the best SOLDIER had ever had.

Then, they were falling. She hit the hard rock with a yelp. Glancing up, she saw Cloud grab Tifa and leap for the rock. Behind her, Barret asked where Vincent and Sephiroth were. With a hard breath caught in her throat, Yuffie couldn't reply. Cid simply pointed out they had themselves to worry about at the minute.

As the caverns crumbled, she could see the Highwind hovering. She sighed and struggled to her feet. Time to escape.

______

Sephiroth struggled up. Beside him, Vincent stirred. They could feel Holy pulsing. He wrapped his arms around the battered raven head. He looked down and kissed Vincent almost desperately on his lips. The man responded. Shifting closer and running his tongue over Sephiroth's lips. He parted his mouth and began to explore the other's. Vincent moaned gently then jumped. A rock had landed just beside him.

"I love you, Vincent." Sephiroth whispered. "And I have no idea what is going to happen after this, but I don't want to stay here. Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

The air was cold, and the wind was biting. That was all Sephiroth could think as he stepped out into the cold dawn. The 2 men had hurried for nearly an hour, scrambling and climbing to find a way out of the crumbling caves, thankfully unbothered by escaping fiends.

He shivered. It was freezing. Inside the crater, they had removed their jackets. Sephiroth still had his, but Vincent's had been lost. The 19-year-old wore only a t-shirt. Although it was quite thick, and had been enough in the heat of battle, with adrenaline rushing through their veins, they were now stood facing icy wasteland.

Vincent didn't seem to notice. He was turned away from Sephiroth, staring blankly across the frozen land they needed to cross, seeing nothing.

The colonel frowned. 'I can handle the cold,' he thought, stubbornly, 'but Vincent..'

"What do you think will happen now?" Vincent's soft voice was hard to hear over the howling wind. "Do you think we can go back?"

Sephiroth slowly looked up. He stared at the back of Vincent's head.

"You want to go back?"

"I don't belong here." Vincent turned around tears streaming down his face. "I miss my father, and my friends, and my half sister. And, if I stay here, I won't see them again. I'll lose everything. It'll be as though they have all died at once… I can't make sense of this place. The technology is… too strange… I want to talk to my Dad. He's so logical. 'Cos, if I go back with the information I now know, I can maybe make a difference. Staying may be selfish, as I love you. I suppose leaving is too, but I don't belong here. We can never get jobs here. I do not look 57. I don't think you could pass as 30 either."

He sighed, and wiped at his eyes, though his tears were still falling. Sephiroth walked over and tightly held him. How could he complain when he so badly wanted to see his own father, and Zack, and his few friends? He was a colonel in SOLDIER. He wasn't afraid of the unknown as such. But facing it alone did make him a little tense.

"I wonder if they stopped meteor."

Vincent's voice was again, so small it was difficult to hear.

"We saw Holy! I'm sure the planet will be fine. Especially now that Jenova is gone too."

He felt Vincent grin into his neck

"Is she gone for you too?"

Sephiroth held still, concentrating. He quickly decided that in his 22 years, he had never truly appreciated silence. The large grin pulling at his lips couldn't be suppressed. Vincent stepped back and smiled softly.

"Good, now get your jacket on. We have quite a way to go to get to our chocobo." He gave the man a quick, chaste kiss.

Sephiroth had his jacket zipped up when he stopped and frowned. He looked at Vincent, contemplatively.

"Are you not cold?"

"Not really. Chaos says that even without reaching my limit break, he makes a difference in my body. I can feel it's cold, but I'm alright."

"Weird…"

"And I haven't broken any bones, even though I've been thrown about quite a bit." He continued, as he began to walk. "I have brittle bones. I used to break them all the time when I was little. I often just read books instead." He grinned.

"And watched a lot of TV?"

"Never had a TV." He was walking at a decent speed now, and completely ignored Sephiroth's gaping. " I sometimes took the gun my Dad kept hidden in the top draw of his desk and practised shooting. He was furious with me when he found out." Vincent's grin widened.

Sephiroth laughed slightly, not entirely sure why Vincent found breaking his bones and angering his father so amusing.

"It's not so bad now. Though, I do still bruise easily. Well… not right now. Apparently Chaos stopped that too. I always got stuck on stealth missions, or playing bodyguard."

They laughed, and carried on exchanging anecdotes as they hurried along, though they quickly slipped into silence.

Vincent thought about his family, his sick stepmother, his hopeless, but lovable father, and Lulu, his sweet but frustratingly stubborn half sister. His mother had died when he was 7, but he was glad his Father had remarried. It gave him someone else to worry over. He wanted to be with them though. He wanted to see how the 3-year-old would grow. He wanted to talk to his father many more times, and to help Elle in different things. They were his family, and he was totally attached to them.

Sephiroth thought about Vincent as a child. Trying to imagine the beautiful man in a different time, with no TV.

______

Nearly 90 minutes later, there was a flash, and the snow seemed to glow and eerie green colour. Vincent could feel his ears popping. He swallowed hard and turned.

'Lifestream.' Murmured Chaos.

"Lifestream." Echoed Vincent, aloud.

He looked into Sephiroth's confused eyes, before the spirit of the lifestream pulsed through him and he fell to the ground.


	13. Chapter 13

_Vincent groaned softly. His head felt sore and the scent of disinfectant was a little overwhelming._

_"Vincent? Are you awake?"_

_The young man squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to wake up. That dream had been wonderful; haunting and terrifying, but wonderful. He'd been held secure in the arms of a man who truly understood him._

_"Vincent?" A cool hand pressed to his forehead. Vincent heard his father let out a gentle sigh. "Thank goodness. I was really worried."_

_Vincent lifted a heavy hand to rub his dry eyes. All his eyelashes were stuck together, and it was uncomfortable._

_"Father… What…? How…? Eh?"_

_He didn't understand what was happening, but Grimoire Valentine smiled down at his only son._

_"You fainted… I mean blacked out." Fainting wasn't manly. "You have been here for nearly 4 hours. Your meeting will be about finished now. I'm sure you'll be devastated to learn."_

_Vincent lowered his eyes to the bedspread. He was in the medical bay. There was a desk in the corner, which was filled with files. His Dad must have brought his work down with him._

_"I … collapsed?"_

_"In the corridor. We have no idea what happened."_

_"I had an odd dream… but I can't remember what it was."_

_"Oh, Vincent." His father pulled the teenager into a tight hug, as Vincent realised his eyes were no longer dry._

_Vincent cried softly, for what he had lost, though he could not remember what it was. He cried for what he had found, even though his father had clearly been here all along. His tears were founded in a confusing mixture of emotions._

_"Oh, is Vincent having a moment?" A brunette in a crisp, dark blue suit stood by the door, a smirk on her lips._

_"Tamara?" Vincent smiled, but he didn't moved. Things were starting to feel normal again._

______

It was so quiet. She was gone. Completely. It was nice to know.

It was quiet, but it was cold. He was lying face down in the snow. He rolled over, sat up and frowned.

Beside him lay 2 sets of clothing, bags and boots included, and a beautiful, but unconscious man. For a moment, he tried to remember. It felt strangely like he had been drunk the night before, except he was out doors, and his head was amazingly clear.

Sephiroth shifted, and began to tidy up the clothing. He figured it would get wet, lying on the snow like that. He remembered Sweep, their chocobo first. The worry he'd felt in the events leading up to that. Vincent's eyes focusing on him, trusting. He looked over at the ex-Turk. It felt like a dream, almost. Except, he hadn't awoken in bed. Though, he had. In the medical wing, in Shin-Ra HQ. He'd been alone, except for the nurse. She's paged his father, who had then come up to see him.

He felt confusion swarm through the clarity he had been enjoying.

"It wasn't a dream…" Sephiroth jumped. Vincent was slowly sitting up. "It makes sense now."

"How?" Sephiroth couldn't help it, the question slipped out.

"The mako. It pulled us out of our time. The lifestream must have corrected us. They are the same thing, after all. I remember waking up, having had an incredible dream, which I couldn't remember. But it wasn't a dream…"

"Do you…" Sephiroth ran his fingers through his long hair. He wasn't sure how to ask this. His head told him to forget it, but another part of him couldn't deny its importance.

Vincent leaned over and kissed him. Just a chaste kiss, but it answered Sephiroth perfectly.

"Do you think we can get our chocobo back? We look so different." Vincent asked gently.

Sephiroth frowned slightly. "If we wore the right clothes, and cut our hair, maybe it would work…"

"I don't think I'll fit them any more. I didn't have much in the way of muscles back then…"

"Same… maybe you could wear my clothes. And if we cut your hair, you would look the same."

Vincent couldn't help but grin. It felt a little immature, but it was like being a Turk again. Dressing up had always been fun. Though, he wasn't too fond of a hair cut.

______

It was a cold morning in Bone Village. The diggers were having a rest. Their 2 new helpers worked much harder than everyone else. Seph with choppy, shoulder length silver hair. Vince with short back hair. They were both very pleasant. Their black chocobo was dead friendly and incredibly useful. They wrote a lot of letters, and quite often left to visit their friends in northern continent. If only they could be a little quieter on a night.


End file.
